Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Success 2012 Book FWS

7/29/2019 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Success 2012 Book FWS

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Success Stories rom the2012 Field Season

U. S. Fish and Wildlie Service

Restoring the

Great Lakes


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contents

On the Cover: Vince Cavallieri rom the Services East Lansing Field Oce

shows o GLRI unded educational materials on piping plover. Service photo.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Fact Sheets 4

GLRI Supports the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlie Restoration Act! 6

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlie Restoration Act: How Dollars Become Projects 7

Creating Ecient Conservation Actions Through Collaboration and Sound Science 8

Permanently Protected: 286 Acres o Erie Shorelines and Wetlands 10

Asian Carp Outreach and Education 11

Niagara River Lake Trout Project 11

Ottawa National Wildlie Reuge: Creating Jobs to Help Restore Lake Erie 12

The Maumee River Areas o Concern: Improving the Health o Streams 14

Clear Creek Stream Habitat and Fish Passage Restoration 15

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Species and Habitat Restoration Initiative 16

Restoration o Lake Trout and Lake Sturgeon: Lower Niagara River Lake Sturgeon

Population Dynamics 18

Comparative Lake Trout Energetics 18

Sign o Progress 19


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Dear Reader,

Now in its third year, the Great Lake Restoration Initiative continues to und priority research and

restoration throughout the Great Lakes basin. As we tighten our budgets in a tough economic climate,the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative ensures that our dedicated sta and our project partners have

the resources they need to bring positive environmental change to the Great Lakes. Their hard workis needed now more than ever. In addition to 37 million people, the Great Lakes are also home to over

30 Areas o Concern. An AOC is a geographic area that is so polluted that it threatens aquatic lieand potentially jeopardizes human health. With the largest group o reshwater lakes on the planet in

jeopardy, the time has come to roll up our sleeves and get to work making the Great Lakes cleaner and

saer.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlie Service is proud to be a ederal partner in the implementation o the GreatLakes Restoration Initiative and we are excited to share with you our success stories rom the 2012 eld

season. Through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Servicereceived more than $43.5 million in unding to reduce toxic substances, restore critical habitat, protectwildlie and prevent the movement o invasive species into and throughout the Great Lakes. In our third

edition o Restoring the Great Lakes we present only a sampling o the amazing work our sta, eldteams and project partners have accomplished with support rom Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

dollars.

From the small darting gure o the piping plover on the beach to the shadowy orm o the mighty lake

sturgeon under your boat, you may be surprised to learn how the work o the U.S. Fish and WildlieService in the Great Lakes basin is all around you. I the stories within this book spark your curiosity,

we invite you out to our national wildlie reuges and national sh hatcheries to learn more not only aboutthe sh and wildlie o the Great Lakes, but also the people who depend on this resource as a source o

income and way o lie. We are already planning our 2013 eld season and we look orward to sharing ourongoing Great Lakes Restoration Initiative accomplishments.

Warmest regards,

Tom Melius Wendi Weber

Regional Director, Midwest Region Regional Director, Northeast Region

introduction


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Great Lakes RestorationInitiative (GLRI)

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Why save the Great Lakes?

Comprised of more than 10,000 miles ofcoastline and 30,000 islands, the GreatLakes provide drinking water, transportation,power and recreational opportunities to the30 million citizens who call the Great LakesBasin home. Fishing, hunting, and wildlifewatching in the Great Lakes generate almost$18 billion in annual revenue. As the largestgroup of fresh water lakes on Earth, theGreat Lakes hold 95 percent of the UnitedStates surface fresh water. Unfortunately,years of environmental degradation hasleft the Great Lakes in need of immediateon-the-ground action to save this precious

resource for generations to come.

What is the Great Lakes RestorationInitiative?The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative(GLRI) is a driver for environmental actionin the Great Lakes. Building upon strategicrecommendations for how to improve theGreat Lakes ecosystem presented in theGreat Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategyof 2005, President Obamas FY 2010 budgetinvested $475 million for GLRI. Fundingdecreased to $300 million in FY 2011 andFY 2012. GLRI represents a collaborative

effort on behalf of the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency and 15 other federalagencies, including U.S. Fish and WildlifeService (USFWS), to address the mostsignicant environmental concerns of theGreat Lakes.

What is the USFWSs role in the GreatLakes Restoration Initiative?The USFWS facilitates the implementationof GLRI Action Plan priority programs,projects and activities to protect, restore,and maintain the Great Lakes ecosystem.Through an interagency agreement with theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, theUSFWS was allocated approximately $69million in FY 2010 , $37.4 million in FY2011 and $43.6 million in FY 2012 to workon projects in the following focus areas:

Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern

(AOCs): Years after pollution stopspersistent pollutants can remain in theenvironment, often trapped in sedimentsbelow the surface of the water. The areaof the Great Lakes Basin most severelyimpacted by these pollutants are knownas Areas of Concern (AOCs). USFWSwill work to restore and protect aquaticecosystems in the Great Lakes from thethreat of persistent pollutants. In additiothe USFWS is initiating an effort toaddress the looming threat of emergingcontaminants, such as hand sanitizers,pharmaceuticals, and personal care produ

in the Great Lakes.

Invasive Species: More than 180 non-native species are established in the GreaLakes. The most invasive of these reprodand spread, ultimately degrading habitat,out-competing native species, and disrupfood webs. USFWS activities will work control and eradicate harmful non-nativespecies in the Great Lakes. An additiona$10 million in GLRI funding was allocatto the USFWS to work specically on Ascarp control and management.

Habitat and Wildlife Protection andRestoration: From climate change toincreasing development activities along tshores of the Great Lakes, a multitude ofthreats are affecting the health of the GreLakes habitats and native wildlife. USFWprojects will work to identify, restore, anprotect important habitat for the areas and wildlife.

Accountability, Education, Monitoring,Evaluation, Communication, andPartnerships: USFWS will fostercoordination of management activities to

create synergy with project partners.

Bird and bat radar unitCredit: USFWS

Lake trout ngerling after being taggedCredit: USFWS

Lake sturgeon streamside rearing unitCredit: USFWS

Ofce of Law Enforcements X-ray vanCredit: USFWS

Want more informatioGo to http://www.fws.gov/GL

(From the top) The Service is working to identify ecologically important areas for birds and batsin the Great Lakes. Millions of lake trout are tagged and stocked into the Great Lakes throughthe mass marking program. In the streamside rearing unit juvenile lake sturgeon are raised intheir natal waters. The mobile X-ray van travels to airports and shipping centers throughout theGreat Lakes to prevent the illegal import of potentially harmful invasive species.


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Diversity and the Great Lakes: GLRI represents the collaborative efforts of a diverse group of stakeholders. Pictured above are State,Federal and Tribal representatives who participated in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Conveners Meeting held in Chicago, IL inDecember of 2004. This group is just a sub-set of the more than 1,500 stakeholders who helped identify needed priority actions in the GLakes, many of which are now being implemented through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Want more informationGo to http://www.fws.gov/GLR

Piping plover species recoveryCredit: USFWS

Asian carp education and outreachCredit: USFWS

Contaminants of emerging concern researchCredit: USFWS G

REATLAKESRESTORATIONIN

ITIATIVE Proud Partner

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a proud partnerin the implementation of the Great Lakes RestorationInitiative. Working with our conservation partnersand utilizing our feld based organization; we helpto bring positive environmental change to the GreatLakes region.

$43.6 million


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GLRI Supports the Great Lakes Fish and WildlieRestoration Act!

Fish and wildlie restoration

needs in the Great Lakes presenta management challenge that is

staggering in scope and complexity.The Great Lakes Fish andWildlie Restoration Act provides

critical support to implement keyresearch and restoration eorts by

prompting actions that move theneedle in a strategic and eectiveway. The Act provides grants on a

competitive basis to states, tribes,non-governmental organizations,

universities, and other groups. Italso supports monitoring, research,

and on-the-ground solutions torestore degraded habitat, preservequality habitat, and re-establish

healthy populations o sh andwildlie. Key projects have allowed

or the restoration o importantGreat Lakes habitats in cutting

edge ways as well as promotinginnovation, communication, andaccountability.

GLRI has supported the Act by

inusing additional unds into

an already strong partner ledgrant process where projects arerecommended or unding to the

Service by the Proposal ReviewCommittee. The PRC is comprised

o state and tribal representatives inthe Great Lakes basin who review,

score, and rank each proposal. Theaddition o $8 million in FY2010, $1.5

million in FY2011, and $1.5 millionin FY2012 to the Act has immenselyexpanded the amount o on-the-ground

work being unded and completed.

Although most o these projectsare ongoing, many are slated to becompleted this Fall. Changes on the

landscape have already begun. Forexample, barrier removals and streamrestoration projects have improved

habitat connectivity; unds have beenused toward long-term protection o

lands through conservation easements;and thousands o wetland acres have

been restored. Funding has beenprovided or many important researchtopics as well, including the mass

marking o salmonids stocked in theGreat Lakes and as studies on aquatic

pathogens, avian migration, and otherpertinent restoration concerns.

The Act is uniquely designed to

provide a high level o on-the-groundrestoration work through Service Fishand Wildlie Conservation Oces.

Although this work has been ongoingsince the Acts inception in 1990, its

long standing history and strong PRCled selection process has allowed the

Act to eectively utilize GLRI undingto directly increase restoration in the

Great Lakes basin. Additionally, GLRIunding also made it possible to utilizea portion o the Act legislation that

allows or the selection o regional level

projects, which are large enough inscope to directly eect multiple Statesor Tribes in the Great Lakes basin.

In the past three scal years we

have received a total o 310 pre-proposals requesting more than$63 million or projects in the Great

Lakes basin. O those, the Servicehas unded 23 high quality projects,

including three regional projects, allo which are making strides orward

in the ecological understanding andrestoration o the Great Lakes basin.In the uture the Act will continue to be

an excellent mechanism or translatingavailable unding into meaningul

progress towards the restoration o theGreat Lakes ecosystem.

Grand River, Ohio. Ducks Unlimited photo.

Above: Deer Creek, Mich. ConservationResource Alliance photo.


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You may know o the Great Lakes

Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and howit benets native sh, wildlie, their

habitats, and water quality; but haveyou ever thought about how GLRI

dollars nd their way to the eld? TheU.S. Fish and Wildlie Service works

with many partners to und successulprojects throughout the Great Lakesbasin.

Where does the Services grant money

come rom? Funding or all GLRIprojects is allocated rom the U.S.

Congress to the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. The EPA isresponsible or distributing these

unds to a host o partners, and oneis the Service. The two agencies sign

an Interagency Agreement which

provides unds to the Service tosupplement ongoing activities thataddress GLRI priorities.

Once the IA is signed, unds aredistributed to Service programs

in the Great Lakes basin. In theinstance o the Great Lakes Fish

and Wildlie Restoration Acto 2006, unds are given to the

Services Fisheries Program, whichis responsible or processing the

grant proposals, obligating unds

to selected projects, and workingwith partners to ensure project

objectives are being met. The Actprovides unding or grant proposals

related to conservation, restoration,research, and management o sh and

wildlie resources, and their habitatsin the Great Lakes basin through acompetitive process to any state, tribe,

or interested entity.

The grant process begins when theFisheries Program places a request

or proposals through www.grants.gov, the Midwest Region FisheriesWebsite, and press releases. In

scal year 2010 alone, the programreceived 165 pre-proposals requesting

nearly $40.6 million. Once submitted,

proposals undergo a competitivereview process that ensures the merito those ultimately chosen. Leadingthis process is the Proposal Review

Committee made up o state andtribal sheries as well as wildlie

representatives, anonymous peerreviewers who are subject matter

experts on the proposed projects, andthe Service who works with the PRCto ultimately review and select the

recommended projects. Projects are

reviewed, scored, and ranked based

on eight criteria meant to describethe project. The eight criteria are: 1)

importance o problem or opportunity,2) project impact and scale, 3) targetspecies/ habitats, 4) aects both sh

and wildlie, 5) objective and methods,6) cost value, 7) likelihood o success,

and 8) potential or negative impacts.

Ater a project is selected, the Service

develops an ocial agreement withthe successul applicant and unds

are obligated. Once the agreementis nalized, and the National

Environmental Policy Act complianceis met, the awardee can utilize the

unding to achieve project objectives.

An example o a project unded,

in part, by the Services FisheriesProgram and Act is the Brown Bridge

Dam removal project in Traverse City,Mich. This year the Service approved

a $500,000 grant to the ConservationResource Alliance to support the

removal and restoration o the BrownBridge Dam. The ongoing Boardman

River Dams Project will be one oMichigans largest dam removal andrestoration projects. This Brown

Bridge dam removal project is animportant rst step in what could be

a larger eort to remove or modiythree additional dams downstreamin the Boardman River to improve

the ecosystem and sh habitat.Deconstruction o the Brown Bridge

Dam is scheduled to begin in late July2012.

The Brown Bridge Dam removal

project unded through the GreatLakes Fish and Wildlie RestorationAct is just one o many ways that the

Service transorms GLRI dollars intoon-the-ground conservation eorts

that work to conserve and restore theunique Great Lakes ecosystem.

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlie Restoration Act:How Dollars Become Projects

Brown Bridge Dam. Service photo.


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Natural resource managers today

are presented with unprecedentedchallenges that threaten the

continued protection, conservationand management o land, water and

wildlie, rom impacts o climatechange to habitat ragmentation and

invasive species.

In 2012, the Upper Midwest and

Great Lakes Landscape ConservationCooperative, part o a network o

science-driven partnerships aimed ataddressing these large scale natural

resource stressors, continues toadvance the pool o science-basedresearch necessary or land use

managers, policy makers and others tomake decisions that support long-term

sustainability o the Great Lakes, its

animals and its people.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

provided $500,000 in 2012 to expandresearch guided by the UpperMidwest and Great Lakes LCC. This

ongoing research aims to prioritizeterrestrial wildlie and advance

shery management techniques inthe ace o climate change and build a

sound strategy or targeting aquatic

connectivity eorts across the Great

Lakes basin.

Researchers rom the University oWisconsin and Wisconsin Department

o Natural Resources led an eortamong scientists and natural resource

managers to identiy priorityterrestrial wildlie species that maybe especially vulnerable to impacts

o climate change. Species identiedrom the research include eastern

massasauga rattlesnake, white-tailed

deer, Blandings turtle, rued grouseand snowshoe hare. Researchers are

now orging ahead with quantitativevulnerability assessments or a subseto these identied species to determine

how climate change may impact uturedistribution and abundance.

Researchers rom U.S. GeologicalSurvey and Ohio Division o Wildlie

continue to work to address regionalclimate change impacts on aquatic

ood webs in the Great Lakes, withthe ultimate goal o adapting shery

management techniques that considercurrent and continued climate change

trends, and more eciently monitorshery populations. Research isocused on dominant prey and predator

shes during spring, summer andall between the central and eastern

basins o Lake Erie. This data willallow researchers to understand how

certain species respond to seasonalenvironmental variability in relation tolong-term climate change.

Researchers rom state and ederalnatural resources agencies, academic

Below: Eastern massasauga rattlesnake.Service photo.

Creating Efcient Conservation ActionsThrough Collaboration and Sound Science

Research isexamining howclimate change

impacts GreatLakes sheries.Service photo.


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institutions and non-governmental

entities across the Great Lakesare continuing to ll knowledge

gaps that limit strategic removalo barriers to sh migration. Thewaterways that connect the Great

Lakes with their tributaries arewidely ragmented rom construction

o dams and road crossings.Researchers are working to map thelocation and attributes o barriers

across the basin in relation to shbreeding habitat, which can help

decision makers at local, state andregional levels, optimize on-the-

ground habitat restoration and shpassage projects, and provide asystematic ramework or weighing

benets and costs o barrier removal.

These and other LCC-undedprojects continue to transcend

boundary lines to generate the mostadvanced and scientically grounded

data to guide the natural resourcescommunities o the Great Lakes. Thepartnerships and data produced are

critical to inorming the protection

and conservation o these unique andvaluable natural resources.

For the most up to date inormationo Upper Midwest and Great Lakes

LCC activities, visit:greatlakeslcc.org

Creating Efcient Conservation ActionsThrough Collaboration and Sound Science

Great Lakes Restoration

Initiative provided$500,000 in 2012 to

expand research guided

by the Upper Midwest

and Great Lakes LCC.

With our variousederal, state,

tribal, and publicpartners weare conductingcooperativeresearch toaddress pertinentissues. Servicephoto.


10/2010

Lake Erie Shoreline,Pennsylvania. Service photo.

Portions o the pristine Lake Erie

shoreline, Elk Creek and associatedwetlands and riparian corridors

near Erie Blus State Park, willbe permanently protected or

conservation and recreational useas part o the David M. RoderickWildlie and Lower Elk Creek Natural

Heritage Area in Erie County, Penn.The Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

utilized Great Lakes RestorationInitiative unding to support the

Western Pennsylvania Conservancysacquisition o 286 acres o privately

owned property to add to more than

3,600 acres o land in the ecologicallydiverse region previously protected

by the Western PennsylvaniaConservancy. The multiyear project

protects approximately 136 acreso wetlands, 780 eet o Lake Erieshoreline and 1,525 eet along Elk

Creek.

The acquisition was made possiblethrough public-private collaboration

to protect this critically importanthabitat or migratory birds and other

wildlie, including several rare or

endangered species. Saeguardedrom residential and commercial

development, the land owned andmanaged by the Pennsylvania GameCommission and Western Pennsylvania

Conservancy will provide publicaccess or shing and recreational

opportunities along Elk Creek, ahigh-quality stream and well-knownsteelhead angling destination, as

well as hiking, nature photography,birding, and other recreational

activities along the beautiul Lake Eriecoastline. A portion o the land was

sold by a amily-run business FairviewEvergreen Nurseries, Inc., who willreinvest the proceeds rom the sale

into their business while contributingto the conservation o land no longer

viable or nursery production.

Through a combination o more than$1.25 million in ederal, state and

partner unding including GLRIdollars, this ecologically diverseregion will be permanently protected

or a vast array o birds, plants and

wildlie, while generating ecotourismopportunities or visitors andresidents.

Permanently Protected:286 Acres o Erie Shorelines and Wetlands

The Western PennsylvaniaConservancy protects 3600acres o land. Service photo.


11/2011

What do law enorcement and

sheries management have to dowith each other? A lot i you are

talking about Asian carp.

Two species o Asian carp, bigheadand silver, are listed as injuriousunder the Lacey Act. The law makes

it illegal to transport live bighead orsilver carps across states lines. Yet

recent law enorcement activitieshave demonstrated that shipments

o live Asian carps are routinelybeing unlawully transported acrossthe United States in violation o

ederal and state laws. Within thelast year shipments o live sh have

been interdicted at the Canadianborder destined or the ood markets

in Toronto. It is also expected thatillegal shipments are hauled to otherlarge cities in the lower 48 states and

Canada, where live Asian carp arehighly valued in the ood market.

In an eort to reduce the illegal

transport o live Asian carp,

the Midwest Regions Oce o

Law Enorcement is launching anew outreach initiative to assist

in educating the law enorcementcommunity about Asian carp. With theassistance o the Midwest Fisheries

Program and External Aairs, theOce o Law Enorcement created an

eight minute video that demonstrateshow to identiy bighead and silver

carp, as well as telltale signs opotential illegal sh haulers. Thevideo is accompanied by an educational

brochure that includes photographso dierent species o carp as a point

o reerence and outlines what

an ocer should do i he or sheencounters a vehicle suspected oillegally transporting live Asian

carp.

With support rom the Great LakesRestoration Initiative, the Midwest

Regions Oce o Law Enorcementis doing its part to help apprehend

the companies, drivers, and vehiclesthat illegally ship live Asian carps ininterstate commerce.

Lake trout restoration in the Great

Lakes uses hatchery stocking asa management tool to reestablishnaturally reproducing populations in

each o the Great Lakes. Thoughnatural reproduction in the lower

lakes continues to be limited, naturalreproduction o lake trout has been

documented within the Niagara

River, a tributary o Lake Ontario.

Through a GLRI-unded jointproject with the Services Northeast

Fishery Center in Lamar,Pennsylvania, and the Lower

Great Lakes Fish and WildlieConservation Oce in Amherst,

N.Y., over the past two years laketrout have been observed using theNiagara River or spawning. In

2010, 27 adult sh were sampled and

15 o them were radio tagged as a way

to identiy where in the river the share spawning. In 2011, 46 adult sh

were sampled and 29 o them were

radio tagged. Eggs and larval shwere collected during the late all/earlywinter and then again in the spring

when eggs are expected to be hatching.

Within Lake Ontario, multiplehatchery strains are stocked. This

project will use genetic analysis o

collected samples to identiy whichhatchery strain is using the NiagaraRiver or spawning to determine ithere is any strain-specic movement

or spawning site dierences, and todetermine which o the strains are

successul in naturally reproducedospring. Results rom this study will

be used to help inorm strain selectionand stocking practices within theNiagara River area to aid in lake trout

restoration.

Asian Carp Outreach and Education

Niagara River Lake Trout Project

Above: Graduate student Kelley Salvesenholding an adult emale lake trout caught onthe Niagara Bar in Lake Ontario. The shwas radio tagged and released. Service photo.

Silver carp. Service photo.

Below: Law Enorcement brochure.


12/2012

In August 2011, the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agencyannounced that the Great Lakes

Restoration Initiative was allocatingapproximately $6 million or ederal

agencies to help put Americans backto work and restore the Great Lakes.In eect, the U.S. EPA created a

small-scale, 21st century CivilianConservation Corps. The Ottawa

National Wildlie Reuge submitteda grant proposal and was awarded

$480,000 to hire 30 temporary seasonalemployees. Creative budgeting andplanning yielded an even more positive

result, with ve additional positionsbeing added, or a total o 35 new

hires.

The positions were divided up betweenthe reuge and conservation partners,

including the Ottawa County Soil andWater Conservation District, LakeErie Cooperative Weed Management

Association and Black Swamp BirdObservatory. The reuge hired 22

seasonal employees including sevenbiological science technicians, two park

rangers, two maintenance workers,an assistant oce clerk, eight YouthConservation Corps students, an

intern and a contract employee to

oversee and coordinate the grant.

In addition, reuge partners hired13 seasonal employees including a

wetland educator, several invasiveplant technicians and various nonpoint

source pollution and other outreacheducators. Between new reugeand partner hires, collaborative

eorts were implemented to developand execute various conservation,

restoration and outreach programs.These programs ocus on GLRI

principal actions as they relate to the

National Wildlie Reuge System andpartnering organizations.

The reuge with partners haveproposed various projects to augment

existing reuge and partner programsto benet coastal wetlands and develop

outreach eorts to reach a wideraudience. Project examples include:

Extensive water quality monitoringprogram in partnership with U.S.

Geological Survey sta to establishbaseline water quality data, evaluate

aquatic resource threats andimplications to reuge management

and coastal wetland restoration.

Completion o bathymetric surveyso reuge wetland impounds to providethe reuge with general elevation data

and adaptively manage wetlands ormigratory birds under looming climate

change threats.

Expansion o the reuges

interpretive and environmentaleducation programs in which parkrangers and seasonal sta were able toreach a more diverse audience in order

Ottawa National Wildlie Reuge:Creating Jobs to Help Restore Lake Erie

Ottawa National Wildlie Reuge sta. Service photo.


13/2013

to connect youth and adults with

nature.

New GLRI displays, brochures,

and other outreach materialsincluding presentations are being

developed to deliver a strongunied Great Lakes restoration and

conservation message.

Implementation o invasive plantmanagement in and around OttawaNational Wildlie Reuge including

invasive plant mapping, monitoring,and control eorts on the reuge

and within watersheds around thereuge.

Restoration and enhancement o

reuge wetlands and other wildliehabitats by seasonal wage grademaintenance workers through

installation o dikes, ditches, andwater control structures which were

in desperate need o repair.

Through GLRI unding and

increased employment in theGreat Lakes basin, the combinedconservation eort has improved andrestored reuge water management

and has allowed the Service to ulllits mission in Ohio.

Let: Wildlie Biologist Ron Humanand Biological Science Technician JoannaKauman collect water samples in

reuge wetlands to provide baseline dataor the Near shore Health GLRI project.

Right: Park Ranger Aimee Weidnerconducts environmental educationprograms or area high schoolenvironmental science students.

Service photos.

Ottawa National Wildlie Reuge:Creating Jobs to Help Restore Lake Erie


14/2014

Healthy streams are able to assimilate

nutrients or other pollutants withoutbecoming degraded.

In addition to controlling sources

o nutrients entering waterways, itis essential to preserve the natural

physical eatures o waterways, such

as riparian zones, foodplains, channelmorphology and habitat diversity. In

the Maumee River Area o Concern,eorts are underway to restore

eatures in waterways that fow intoLake Erie and assimilate nutrients.

At Ottawa National Wildlie Reuge

in Ohio, eorts are underway torestore some o these propertiesby reconnecting coastal marshes

and establishing sh passage. One

marsh has been reconnected to CraneCreek, which fows into Lake Erie.Monitoring shows that nutrients

entering the marsh are greatlyreduced ater pulsing through thereconnected wetland, and sh species

diversity and numbers increased.GLRI unds will support some o

the monitoring o this and otherreconnected wetland, along with

habitat restoration at two other reuge

sites. The completed project will

result in restoration and enhancemento 512 acres o habitat, along with 127

acres reopened to Lake Erie or shspawning; improved sh passage; and

improved habitat or rare, threatenedand endangered species on the reuge.Project partners include The Nature

Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited,U.S. Geological Survey, and the

National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration.

In Toledo, the Service is working

with partners to restore, enhance andcreate habitat along the Ottawa Riveron the main campus o the University

o Toledo. Until recently the Riverhere was under a sh consumption

advisory due to eects o agriculturaland storm water runo, development,

municipal and industrial dischargesand hazardous waste disposal. Serviceunds will enhance stream and stream

bank restoration and stabilizationeorts. The project will result in

about 3,700 eet o contiguous habitatalong the Ottawa as well as provide

a public demonstration area orrestoration o an impaired, urbanizedstream system. Partnering with the

Service are the U.S. Army Corps o

Engineers, Ohio EPA, Toledo Public

Schools, Partners or Clean Streams,Inc., and the University o Toledos

Presidents Commission on the River.

A project along Swan Creek in Lucas

County, Ohio, will enhance habitatin the Oak Openings Region, one o

the most ecologically unique areasin the Midwest. In a predominatelyagricultural area, the wet prairies

here are among Ohios most diverse.Activities include invasive plant

control, re-vegetation o armed areas,creation o vernal pools, and creation

o in-stream aquatic habitat. Amongthe projects benets are restoration

o 8 acres o foodplain; connectivityto adjacent Oak Openings NaturePreserve Metropark; and improved

aquatic habitat and water quality inSwan Creek. Partners include the

Toledo Metropolitan Area Council oGovernments, Lucas Soil and Water

Conservation Districts, Ohio EPA, theMaumee River Remedial Action PlanCoordinator, and a private landowner.

The Maumee River Area o Concern:Improving the Health o Streams

Swan Creek beore restoration activities.Service photo.

Above: Restoration activities in the MaumeeAOC will restore waterway fows. Service photo.


15/2015

Clear Creek Stream Habitat and FishPassage Restoration

Stream habitat degradation and

ragmentation limit native andrecreational sheries throughout

the Great Lakes basin. Like manyother streams, Clear Creek locatedin the Cattaraugus Creek watershed

o New York is signicantly incised.High channel incision promotes

excess bank erosion and sedimentaggradation, causes channelinstability, and limits ecological and

habitat unction o streams.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlie Servicecompleted a stream habitat

restoration project along ClearCreek in June 2012. Project goals

were to: (1) re-establish a bankullfoodplain bench to reduce channelincision, (2) reduce excess stream

bank erosion and channel instability,and promote sediment transport, (3)

reduce sediment inputs and improvewater quality, and (4) restore sh

upstream passage above an obsoletesheet-pile dam. Natural channeldesign approaches including cross-

vanes, J-hooks, toewood bank

protection, and riparian plantingswere installed to restore 2,400linear eet o in-stream habitat and

provide sh passage to six mileso habitat along Clear Creek inSandusky, Cattaraugus County,

New York. Stream habitat and shpassage restoration will support

brook trout restoration, and improverecreational brown and rainbow

trout sheries along Clear Creek.The New York State Departmento Environmental Conservation

maintains 5.5 miles o Public FishingRights easements along Clear

Creek including the project site.This project will complement other

stream restoration and dam removalprojects in the watershed to supportrestoration o native and recreational

sheries in Cattaraugus Creek andLake Erie.

Project partners are the New YorkState Department o Environmental

Conservation, Trout Unlimited RedHouse Brook and Western New York

Chapters, Seneca Trail ResourceConservation and Development, ve

private landowners, and the Service.The project was implemented with

unding received through the GreatLakes Restoration Initiative, and

the New York State Council TroutUnlimited Conservation Fund.

Implementing ClearCreek stream habitat andsh passage restoration.Service photo.

Clear Creek post-restoration; 4cross-vanes installed to reduce bankerosion, promote sediment transport,and restore habitat unction. Servicephoto.


16/2016

Funding provided by the GLRI

Species and Habitat RestorationInitiative has been key in the

implementation o priority habitatprotection, restoration, and

enhancement in the Great Lakeswatershed. Implementation iscoordinated through our Service

programs the National Fish PassageProgram, Bird Habitat Joint Ventures,

Coastal Program, and the Partners orFish and Wildlie Program. Eorts o

all our programs are designed to mosteectively implement the objectiveso major regional and national plans,

such as the Upper Mississippi River/Great Lakes Region Joint Ventures

Implementation Plan, the GreatLakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership

Strategic Conservation Framework,and others. Additionally, habitat

work supported by each program hastangible benets that extend acrossspecies groups.

In 2012, the GLRI NFFP program

initiated a project to remove the LyonsDam in Ionia County, Mich. As with

thousands o other relic dams acrossthe country, this structure no longerserves its intended purpose, and its

removal will open 16 miles o habitat

to migrating and spawning sh on

the Grand River that has been cut orom the rest o the system or over

150 years. This will also help reducefooding and sedimentation issues

caused by the presence o the dam.Removal o passage barriers improvesin-stream habitat or many species

o sh and other aquatic lie, leadingto more diverse species assemblages

and healthier sh populations, whichalso provide secondary benets to

sh-eating birds such as BeltedKingshers and Green Herons.

Likewise, emergent marsh restoration

projects designed to benet waterowland other wetland birds, such as the

GLRI-JV project at Maple RiverState Game Area in Gratiot County,Mich. (also within the Grand River

watershed) benet more than justbirds. This project will enhance

344 acres o wetlands by replacingoutdated and ineective water controlinrastructure, which will enable

managers to better emulate naturalhydrologic cycles, and control invasive

species such as purple loosestrie. Thisproject will provide habitat or wetland

birds such as American Bitternand Black Tern, and will also boostpopulations o sh and other aquatic

organisms by increasing the amounto quality emergent marsh vegetation

on the area, which provides crucialnursery habitat or young sh.

The CP and the Michigan Department

o Natural Resources are workingtogether through GLRI to conserverare and endangered species at

Wilderness State Park. In the early

1990s the Park provided nestinghabitat or nearly 25 percent o theendangered Great Lakes Piping Plover

population. Today with reduced icescour and prolonged low lake levels,vegetation encroachment has made

Great Lakes Restoration InitiativeSpecies and Habitat Restoration Initiative

Piping Plover taking a drink. Photo courtesy o Alice Van Zoeren.

Maple River State Game Amera, Mich. Service photo.


17/2017

habitat unsuitable. Eorts will ocus

on restoring open beach habitat byremoving invasive species, both or

the plovers benet and populationso ederal and state listed species

including Pitchers thistle, Houghtonsgoldenrod, and Lake Huron tansy.

The GLRI PFW program has restoredmore than 1000 acres o wetlands and

800 acres o native grasslands withinthe Great Lakes watershed on private

lands. Individual projects includere-establishing drained wetlandsto provide habitat or water birds

or restoration o ormer cropland

to a mix o native grass and orbspecies, which provides improvedhabitat or grassland wildlie, such as

Eastern Meadowlarks. In addition toimproving wildlie habitat, restoration

o wetlands and grasslands enhanceswater quality by reducing nutrient andsoil runo.

By proactively working together,

Service programs are helping to

ensure that GLRI grant dollarsare achieving maximal cross-

programmatic benets. Additionally,eorts will continue to be targeted

within Great Lakes Areas o Concernto accelerate the recovery o these

impaired systems or the benet o thesh, wildlie, and people that dependon them.

Great Lakes Restoration InitiativeSpecies and Habitat Restoration Initiative

Top: photo Lyons Dam removal will open 16miles o habitat to sh. Service photo. Bottomphoto: Piping plover. Photo courtesy o Alice VanZoeren.


18/2018

The lower Niagara River

lake sturgeon study is

a collaboration betweenthe Services NortheastFishery Center and the

Lower Great Lakes Fishand Wildlie ConservationOce, to assess the health

and status o the lakesturgeon population in

the lower Niagara Riverand locate their spawning

habitat. Since all o 2010,over 300 individual sho 3.5 to 5.5 eet in length

and between 25 and 120pounds in weight have been

tagged and released. Ageanalysis o these sh rom

n spine samples indicate that mostsh in the lower Niagara River arebetween 13 and 16 years old. The

movements o 72 lake sturgeonimplanted with radio transponder

tags (42 in 2011, 30 in 2012) have

been tracked using a combination o

stationary radio-receivers and mobiletracking, which identied the locationso possible spawning grounds and

migration behavior. Using

GIS mapping sotware,

the lake sturgeon trackingdata will be overlayedwith data collected rom

a GLRI-unded sidescansonar project, mapping theriver substrate to provide

important inormationon habitat in the lower

Niagara. In 2012 bloodsamples were collected

rom all sturgeon capturedprior to spawning season, toidentiy sex and spawning

stage by measuringhormone levels. With the

addition o some upcominggenetic analysis, the above

inormation will be combined intoa population viability analysis toestimate the uture population

size o lake sturgeon in the lowerNiagara River.

Stocking o hatchery produced

lake trout within the Great Lakesis one o the primary management

strategies used or restorationeorts. Dierent strains o laketrout are stocked, and these vary

by the location within the lakeswhere the strain originated, and

by body orm. For example, thelean and the humper lake trout

body orms dier in how deep inthe water they live, the type o oodthey eat, and the amount o at they

store in their body. To determinewhich lake trout body orm may

be better to stock in current anduture Great Lakes habitats, it is

also important to consider howmuch the body orms can growunder dierent environmental

conditions. For more than a year,the Services Northeast Fishery

Center in Lamar, Pennsylvania has

worked on completing laboratory

experiments to compare two activelystocked lake trout body orms:

lean and humper. To examine this,laboratory experiments to measure

consumption, oxygen usage, andgrowth were carried out acrossdierent sh sizes and temperatures

or both body orms to refect currentand uture environmental conditions.

Results rom this GLRI unded studywill be used to inorm stocking and

management recommendations ordierent body orms o lake trout invarious habitats ound in the Great

Lakes.

Restoration o Lake Trout and Lake Sturgeon: LowerNiagara River Lake Sturgeon Population Dynamics

Above: Graduate student Megan Kepler mea-suring a lake trout used in the experiments.

Right: Laboratory setup or lake trout eedingstudies at the USFWS Northeast Fishery Cen-ter in Lamar, PA. Service photos.

Comparative Lake Trout Energetics

Above: Service biologist, Greg Jacobs, releasinga reshly tagged lake sturgeon back into thelower Niagara River. Service photo.


19/2019

Sign o Progress

All U.S. Fish and Wildlie Service eld sites which receive Great Lakes Restoration Initiative unding will be markedby a sign similar to the one pictured above. Identiying our eld sites is part o our interagency agreement with

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This unding requirement was design to increase public awareness and

transparency with regard to the use o GLRI unding.

To learn more about other Service GLRI projects, please visit http://www.ws.gov/glri/

Please direct inquiries to:

Katie Steiger-Meister

External Aairs, Midwest RegionU.S. Fish and Wildlie Service

Phone: 612-713-5317E-mail: [email protected]


20/20

Tom MeliusRegional DirectorMidwest Regionhttp://midwest.ws.gov

Wendi WeberRegional Director

Northeast Regionhttp://www.ws.gov/northeast/

Midwest External AairsPhone: 612-713-5360

2012

Restoring the Great Lakes

U. S. Fish and Wildlie Service

Documents

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Success 2012 Book FWS